NANSHAN District police have recently busted a criminal organization involved in making counterfeit Viagra worth more than 100 million yuan (US$16 million).

    Over the past eight months, police have caught 11 suspects and criminally detained 10 people in regions such as Guangzhou, Maoming, Shandong and Zhejiang. They also seized 35 cartons, 10 buckets and four sacks containing more than 1 million tablets of fake Viagra.

    Nanshan police, in conjunction with the drug administration, caught three people who were packaging fake Viagra at a housing estate in Nanshan in March, seizing 145,000 fake tablets on the spot.

    Further investigations revealed that the fake tablets were made at a factory in Maoming, Guangdong Province, before they were packaged and distributed in Guangzhou and sold across the country via online shops.

    Police said it cost only 1 yuan to make a fake Viagra pill, but they sold for 45 to 50 yuan each online. The market price of authentic Viagra is around 100 yuan per pill.

    The counterfeit Viagra pills were later found to contain starch and some medicinal powder, which would be detrimental to health if taken for an extended period.

    Police have reminded people not to purchase Viagra tablets at unlicensed shops to avoid harm to their health.

    (SD News)